Marketing authorization of COVID-19 vaccines across UK, EU, and the US: fact-checking and the implications for future research

While having access to safe and efcient vaccines is essential for eradicating the COVID-19 pandemic, gaining market‑ ing authorisation is a critical step in enabling and speeding this process. On December 2, 2020, the United Kingdom became the frst country to approve the frst COVID-19 vaccine. This commentary aims to provide a quick overview of the UK’s COVID-19 vaccine authorization process and compare it to that of the EU and the US. While the UK, EU, and US expedited the COVID-19 vaccine approval process, regulatory authorities did not appear to cut corners in their approval of the Pfzer COVID-19 vaccine, as evidenced by their decisions to switch emergency use authorization to full authorization in the US and to renew conditional/temporary use authorization in the EU and UK, respectively. There is an opportunity to conduct a thorough investigation into and comparison of the fled dossiers, as well as the robust‑ ness of the evaluation process for the approval of COVID-19 vaccines

While having access to safe and efcient vaccines is essential for eradicating the COVID-19 pandemic, gaining market‑ ing authorisation is a critical step in enabling and speeding this process. On December 2, 2020, the United Kingdom became the frst country to approve the frst COVID-19 vaccine. This commentary aims to provide a quick overview of the UK’s COVID-19 vaccine authorization process and compare it to that of the EU and the US. While the UK, EU, and US expedited the COVID-19 vaccine approval process, regulatory authorities did not appear to cut corners in their approval of the Pfzer COVID-19 vaccine, as evidenced by their decisions to switch emergency use authorization to full authorization in the US and to renew conditional/temporary use authorization in the EU and UK, respectively. There is an opportunity to conduct a thorough investigation into and comparison of the fled dossiers, as well as the robust‑ ness of the evaluation process for the approval of COVID-19 vaccines